Saturday, December 31, 2011

Just as a friendly reminder… I am an avid, enthusiastic couponer, (not extreme!) shopping
and saving heavily in the drugstores. I
have accumulated a stockpile of products.
If you have been reading my blog, you have seen pretty much what I have bought and spent. lol My New Year’s Goal or Resolution is to deplete my stockpile throughout the
year of 2012. Yes that means no more
drugstore shopping unless of course, I run out of something. However, to make my goal/resolution more
realistic, I am allowing myself a monthly sample box and in April at IMATS NYC I get a free
pass. I’m only human. :)

So here goes!

These first few (okay many) products currently in “use”
or in heavy rotation. I tried to
approximate how much I have left of most items.

The only makeup I’m going to list here are my foundations. I obviously will not be buying any new eyeshadow
or liners for the entire year since, let’s be honest here, I will never run
out. I may run out of black liner… :)

*I moved over the summer and the movers did not pack up liquids. Half of these were brought to my mother's house in MA while we were in transition (back and forth between MA and NC) and a couple weeks ago I picked up my perfumes and other items that had been left there.

Products in
Secondary Bathroom:

This is my true couponer’s stockpile, I mean nothing like
the Extreme Couponing show depicted but a ton of product nonetheless. I have also provided a count if there are
multiples:

So in my closet I have a cloth drawer shelf unit, filled with unopened
makeup, samples, etc or as I would like to say, back ups.
I will go through them all.

Some items are for review, others are for a giveaway I am planning soon!

Top left: Sample box drawer. I leave the samples in the boxes until I am
ready to try them. Right now I have both
the November and December Birchbox and Bluum box. I have one more Bluum box before my subscription ends. I have 2 pairs of false lashes a ton of AVON
lipglosses and mark. products that I will give away as samples to customers.

Top right: Samples & travel sizes. Too numerous to itemize but here I have samples
from Ulta, samples from Sephora Mystery Bag, samples I send away for that I get
in the mail, I recently got a bag full of organic and natural samples from a Drugstore.com
Seventh Generation Diaper order. I will
do a post on that one! There are perfume
samples, samples from the sample boxes that I have tried and not tried etc… All travel sizes end up in here.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

So I have been thinking long and hard about this. lol No I haven't, they literally came to me during my morning shower and I have resolved to make it happen! I actually have not one but 2!

Without further ado...

1. I will live off my stash for the next 12 months, the entire year of 2012 or until it is used up.

I mean everything, shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, eye cream... Seems like a long time... I know. This means I have to quit shopping. GULP! The search for the HG's are over. I have them all or their equivalents in my both of my bathroom vanities anyway.

Yes I have tried this before. But I wasn't ready then. Now it is different, I am mentally prepared and ready for this challenge. For one, I have a ton of upcoming expenses this year and it is fitting that I
resolve to keep this goal. And secondly, it is long over do. My drawers, cabinets, shelves, spare bedroom/ office are full of "product" as my mom says and reminded me while she was here over Christmas.

I have saved a ton, literally thousands of dollars on all of the "product" I have accumulated, but as my husband so eloquently states... "You are not saving any money by spending it." He is so right, he always is! ;) Obviously we still need household and personal items and I will continue couponing, but I am challenging myself this upcoming year to live off my stash.

I do have a couple small caveats...

1. In order to keep this goal a little realistic, I am allowing myself the occasional, well let's be honest here, monthly sample box. I do like to gift them, especially the Julep Maven box because it is a nice surprise for that person. So May, July, August, September, October, December will probably all be gifted actually.

2. I am going to IMATS NYC in April with my sister. I honestly do not know what to expect as an IMATS newbie, but I am allowing myself to purchase a few items, namely INLGOT and OCC :)

3. As I run out of items, not anticipating running out, but actually after throwing an empty container in the garbage/recycling bin, I can repurchase. For example, my first item that only has a few drops left is my John Frieda Go Blonder Lightening Spray. When I pitch it, I can get another. Okie doke?

Then as I finish an item, I will review it! It might be the second time, but everything will be reviewed as I finish to keep me on track.

I will be completing an "inventory" of products which I will document in a separate post. It is going to take me forever. Well I need to get it up before 2012, so I have 2 days.

On to my second lofty goal of 2012

2. I will lose 20 pounds in 2012.

I pretty much say this every year but then I seem to get pregnant about 10 pounds in. lol But my husband and I have decided our family of 5 is quite big enough so I should be in the clear to lose the elusive 20!

I eat very healthy food choices, but alas exercise is a bit of a roller coaster ride for me and portion control will be key. What can I say, I cook amazingly delicious meals ;) There really isn't anything I can cut out or eat more of unless I become a complete vegan but that's really not an option for me. I eat very little meat as it is. Lean proteins and veggies has always been my mantra as well as everything in moderation. I need to get back on track with the moderation!

So there you have it. My two beauty goals for 2012!!!

Have you came up with any Resolutions or Goals to accomplish in 2012? Do share!

I totally forgot to post these. We celebrated Christmas for two days since my husband had to work a 24 hours shift. :( But it all worked out because the kids opened presents 2 days in a row!

My cuticles are are a little dry but here are some shots with the new camera as well. I had ZOYA Kissy on for Christmas Day #1. It is a little more pink in real life.

This is ZOYA Rina which I wore the day after Christmas, our Christmas #2.

I picked up Rina and Kissy during ZOYA's Flash Promos. I wasn't quick enough to get any for free but I did get these for $16. I finally have my namesake Erin on the far left, Rina, Kissy and Kristen on the far right.

The above picture was taken with the old camera. It just won't focus anymore. So disappointing. It will be sent off to be fixed this weekend and maybe we can salvage it for a couple more years. :)

I only got one other promo and that was for my Secret Santa. Her promo was 2 polishes from the Winter 2011 Feel Collection and a free bottle of ZOYA Remove +! She was very happy!

If you missed my twitter excitement the other night, this is the shoe I found for my sister's wedding in June. THE SHOE! I had to find a specific color green, kelly, to match a leather planner that I have. My sister was actually given the same planner last Christmas from her soon to be mother-in-law and I searched and searched and finally found it on ebay earlier this summer and ordered it straight away.

Can I also say how difficult it is to find a kelly green shoe? Well one
that isn't stripper-esque, not that there is anything wrong with that,
just wasn't the look I was going for! Nor did I want 6 inch platforms.

Like I said previously, for my sister's wedding I needed to find a very specific kelly green. From the above pictures, it seems that it is the perfect match. The shoes should arrive by the end of the week. All the bridesmaids are wearing a different color shoe with our black dresses. So fun!

The last pair I received were a disaster. I ordered from DSW.com. The shoes took forever to arrive, like 10 days! I opened them from the box and what did I see? Grease and scuff marks on the satin! I was so bummed.

It wasn't quite the perfect match to the planner but they shoes were just so comfortable! I loved them...until I saw some scuffs marks and then..ick greasy thumb prints? What? On both shoes in the heel and also on the toe.

I am aware that I would be the only one who would have known that they existed as they barely showed in the above pictures. They were definitely very noticeable in real life. My mom calmy told me to, well calm down about it. But I was just ever so annoyed that a brand new shoe purchased at full price should not be, well nearly perfect.

I contacted customer service who promptly responded that they would hand-pick another shoe so that I would receive a perfect substitute and give me 10% off for my troubles. Then I get the dreaded email... They are out of stock in my size of 8.5 in the "Emerald" color. Just my luck right?

I had already sent pictures to my sister, she already had a satin bag handmade by an Etsy vendor based off that exact color. I probably should have just kept them but it was done, they were already sent back and my account was credited for the return and a new search for the perfect shoe ensued.

The Makeascene Pump was what I was looking for in the first place, leather for one, perfect color and something with a design element. It hit the mark on all 3.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

This color has got to be my favorite ZOYA polish. My sister pulled this one out of my collection while she was here over Christmas and it is just a lovely purple cream.

Oh and here are some shots with the new camera! What do you think?

We have been looking and looking and finally he got one and surprised me! It's the FinePix T190 FijuFilm. I thought I was going to love the ease of taking photos but after looking at the initial shots I took on Christmas, I'm not loving it so much right now. The photo quality is just something I will have to get used to with the point and shoot. I know this. But there is something, something very digital about the photos?

There are so many settings and features to learn. The technology is crazy! My last point and shoot was the Easy Share 5.0 back in 2004. It was expensive too, I think $300. Top of the line back then. I bought it literally the night before my trip to Portugal. I think my photos came out very nice.

One of the really cool features of the FujiFilm is the panoramic shot! But the video quality is really not good but I didn't know what to expect with a point and shoot camera anyway...

My husband isn't keen on returning it. It's the old, "user error" argument. lol So we will see! I expect a new one in my future by the weekend. :)

Yeah, I took part in 3 Secret Santa Exchanges. I just love shopping for nail polish and make up, what can I say! Oh and I like getting those kinds of gifts too!

Look what Amanda from Mad Manis sent to me for our Santa Exchange! Thanks again Amanda! I had been eyeing this set for so long at Sally's...

Please excuse the broken index finger. I just quickly swatched these before leaving the house for a community holiday party. One coat each. And yeah, I forgot to take the polish off. lol

I think that this green will be perfect for my sister's wedding. I know green isn't a traditional bridesmaid nail color or wedding nail color in general, but we all had to pick a certain color for our shoe and mine was Kelly Green. I think a soft pink just wouldn't do. I will run it by the bride of course ;) What say you sis?

So I love sample boxes. There is no denying it... Sample sizes are just more my speed. I like to try new products and I don't like to waste. It's a win win for me!

A couple of months ago I bought an Eversave voucher for 3 months of Bluum for something around $13. It was a little tricky using the Eversave voucher but a kind representative from Bluum helped me out a created an account for me. A+++ customer service!

With the Bluum box, you get high end samples for baby and for mommy! I guess I need to admit to myself that my youngest is no longer a baby, but I have been happy with my first 2 boxes, November and December which I will show you now!

They come in the same size box as Birchbox...

Then colorful blue tissue paper...

November's Bluumbox

So there was a cute little building block that my son like to throw around and point to the cow, some baby butter sample, eye lubricating drops, which I always need (hello tired dry eyes!) and stretch mark cream. My favorite was the Sleep Tight Pillow Spritz which smelled of calming lavender which I cannot find anywhere! So bummed I didn't get to try it out on my pillow!

The December Box had some nice goodies too. A bib which I can always use at meal time. Peach mish mash which was sucked down and 2 minutes by the little one who just loves squeezable fruits and veggies. Also included was some pure and paraben free dish soap, well free of just about everything harmful which we all should be using to protect our streams, rivers, lakes and oceans!

There were also these pop up towlettes that you moisten and they spring to life and ready to wipe up messes! They are great to throw in the diaper bag. But you will need a water supply... The tooth wipes I will be gifting to a soon to be new mother as my little one has a full mouth of teeth already!

I have one more box being shipped out on the 17th of January. I probably won't continue as I am sampling boxes like a maniac but I really like this one! It would be great for a new mom with a small baby or newborn. Lot of new things to try out during that exciting time!

I had to grab another L'OREAL infallible eyeshadow as they are so addicting!

with flash

natural light

sunlight

natural light

How gorgeous this color??!! I really packed this shade on and it only last 4 hours before the first crease started to appear. So I will remember not to pack this on if I need my color to last the entire day! However, I just blended it back in with my finger and it lasted another couple of hours.

I don't believe I did a post on the brown yet so here are some photos and creasing that occured well into the early am. 13 or 14 hours of wear! I did this look around 1pm I believe before heading out to do some last minute Christmas shopping. I used the brown as a base and lower lid liner. I used my AVON Expert Eyeshadow palette, several brown shades and the matte black layered on top.

The 2 photos below were taken at 3 am. This represents 12+ hours of wear!

I rarely go into Ulta. For good reason. I will spend way too much money on things I do not need! But a couple of weeks ago I went armed with 3 coupons fully intending to buy the NYX Butt Naked Eyes Makeup Palette. Why? Well triple points and 20% off coupon baby!

However when I swatched out the tester, the shadows were just awful. Possibly because they were a tester filled with bacteria from greasy fingers... Though I am glad because it prevented me from buying it. :) But I also had a coupon for $3.50 off $10 purchase so I set off to get to work!

So I walked around the store with 3 screaming children dodging stressed out holiday shoppers and found the clearance section and bonus, found my favorite facial cleansing wipes!!!

It must have been a couple months since I first found these clearanced. I'm going back for more too. They are amazing. Expensive, but I can see a difference when I use them. Unfortunately, or fortunately because they are on clearance, Ulta or my local Ulta is not carrying this brand anymore. So I have a backup month's supply. I have been stretching out the first box, maybe using a wipe every other night.

I also had a coupon for a free cosmetic brush. And guess what? They were on sale for BOGO. So I essentially got 3 for free with the $3.50 off $10 coupon. SCORE!

A little disclaimer...

As you may already know, all product reviews and opinions expressed on Savvy Beauty are that of my own. I love all things beauty and whether or not I buy products for myself or on the rare occasion that I receive a product for review, only honest opinions based upon my personal experience will be shared.